What the Girl Scouts Taught Me about Content Distribution

Every year I count on the little neighbor girl to stop by with her Girl Scout Cookie order form so that I can place my ridiculous order of Thin Mints and Tagalongs?and then I wait (for months it seems) for them to finally arrive. This year I got the knock at the door?but no order form! The cookie boxes were right there?immediate gratification?no ordering, no waiting!

Clearly the Girl Scouts, being the savvy salesgirls they are, embarked on a new distribution strategy for their delectables this year! My little neighbor not only informed me I could purchase cookies on the spot, but also introduced me to their new iPhone app in case I needed to locate more in the near future. She even gave me her card that included a link to her troop?s Website and email newsletter! ?Now I can get all the news and tips I need to suffice all my cookie cravings!

Go Girl Scouts! They get it! They recognized the need to update their distribution strategy to better meet the needs of their targets. So I ask you?when was the last time you updated your distribution strategy?!

If you are carefully crafting your marketing message and uniquely relevant content, you should be placing that same effort into how you share the message and content with your network. ?Blindly blanketed your networks with the same postings is not only annoying, but completely ineffective.

When you post an article to your own Website, your goal should be to utilize channels like Facebook, Twitter or email to drive your targets back to the cookies (I mean the source of the content). When you have something delicious to share that folks want and you consistently tease them (in an informative fashion) you are positioning yourself as the source of the cookies. If I want more cookies?I KNOW where to go to get more!

But this strategy can fail quickly from 2 major mis-steps posting in our favorite networks?(1) treating every network exactly the same AND (2) the set it and forget it mentality.

Depending upon the communication channels you participate in, posting or sharing your relevant content will involve different nuances that shouldn?t be taken for granted.

Don?t Treat Facebook Like it?s Twitter, & Vice Versa

When you post your blog article to Facebook, be sure to include the link back to your site (which will usually pull in the image and description associated with the post). Then add your own commentary?giving us a reason to want to click the link and read more. Ask a question, share an important aspect of the article or one suggestion?but never recap the entire article or say, ?check this out, or click here for more info?.? FYI: saying ?check this out? as your commentary is about as exciting as when someone comments on your post with ?thanks for sharing?.

When you post your blog article to Twitter using the title can be simple and effective, but don?t forget to add a short URL directing folks back to your site. If you plan to re-post that article during different times of the day or during the week, I suggest mixing it up. Tweet an enticing quote from your article or highlight one specific tip but allude to more.

Don?t Set It & Forget It

Just because you have a distribution strategy doesn?t mean you?re off the hook when it comes to responding. Whether you post to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or send via email?be sure you have the proper notifications set so that you can get back to those who engage with your content.? That is the goal after all?.to provide your expertise to those who need it and want it. And if those targeted folks are engaging with your expertise don?t drop the ball by missing opportunities to answer questions, provide additional assistance or take the online engagement?offline!

MyTechOpinion

Take a cue from the Girl Scouts! Modify your distribution strategy if you know you could be delivering delicious cookies to your targets in a more effective manner.

If you don?t have a distribution strategy, it?s time you did. ?And if you need help establishing your own content management hub online, talk to us! Agent Evolution can ROCK you a WordPress site or Facebook Page to better market your real estate business, expertise and listings online.

Nicole Nicolay "@nik_nik" is Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Agent Evolution, and author of "WordPress for Real Estate: From Static to Standout". Her passion is educating real estate professionals on how to generate business by integrating both new and traditional channels of marketing. She is also co-founder and editor of MyTechOpinion.com, where she's been blogging about real estate technology since 2005. Nicole was named one of the 100 Most Influential Leaders in Real Estate for 2010, Top 10 Most Fearless Women Online & in Social Media for 2011, and 2012's Top 30 Women in Social Media in the world.

Facebook is really different from Twitter when it comes to content distribution. Facebook is click and go. But in Twitter, in order for the content distribution to be more effective, you also NEED to include some hash tags #. For instance, if your blog is all about gardening and arts/crafts, you can just share it in Facebook as is. But in Twitter, aside from putting the title of the blog and its link, you need to be more clever for your blog to be noticed by others. This is where hash tags come in handy.

After the blog's title and link, you can add the following hash tags: #gardening #diy #arts #crafts. This way, people with the same interest and blog will become aware of your content.

You are a genius! I love your style and sense of humor. Thanks for the lesson about keeping messages relevant to their distribution channels and putting some thought into each post rather than just "set it and forget it." Your Twitter introduction Video is awesome! That's what got me to your blog. When it comes to marketing, you walk the walk and talk the talk. Keep up the great work. I look forward to meeting you in person one of these days.

I can't stand when I go through all the effort of making a comment or taking the time to respond to something, then I get nothing back. If you want to look like an expert but the second someone asks a question you disappear, what are you really saying?

I see Realtors starting to move in this direction. Realtors are starting to put apps on their for-sale signs for home buyers to get the details of their listings right from their phone as they drive by.

One thing I find irritating and ineffective is when people schedule auto-updates saying the same exact thing at the same exact time and blast it across twitter and Facebook simultaneously. Like, what's the point?! And to add fuel to the fire, they don't respond to either! If you want the best results, you certainly can't treat it like a one-size-fits-all. Thanks for reinforcing it.

talking about social media t is one of the most important thing for business in today;'s time. It is really important for ortanteach one of us to have a social media. Content Distribution is also very important.

I really agree with your “don’t set it and forget it” policy. We have just started to really boost our blog and social media pushes and we have really been pushing for user interaction on our apartment search. The question I have is, when do you allow comments and respond to them and when are they spam? For example you said the “thanks for sharing” post. If the comment is very generic like that and has a url to a very non relevant site, what should be done? Is there a guideline for this?

Fantastic post!! Another thing that Girl Scout Cookies taught me is that they make a great client gift. I liked the simple concept of using something that gives to a good cause to show appreciation to our clients. We purchased several boxes of Thin Mints (one for each of our current listings) and I created a little message that I attached to each “Thank you for keeping your home in MINT condition while it’s on the market” They were “SO” well received, fun to do and a unique way to say thank you. Seeing your post about the cookies, I thought it might be appropriate to share here with anyone who likes different real estate marketing ideas. Here’s my blog post: http://gardnerteam.net/2012/02/16/thank-you-for-keeping-your-home-in-mint-condition/